Brain Food #412
What we see and what we know
Daily Brain Food.
Thoughts of the day
We have an inherent need, as humans, to explain things. Learning to look at a painting without being distracted by the fame or status of the artist can be a difficult act, but seeing a piece of work in itself, without any context or distractions, can be a rewarding, yet unsettling experience. We learn to accept things for what they are.
The image below, titled Enlightenment, shows two extremes happening together. There is no guidance as to how we should view it. Are we witnessing a pull or a push? The painting, depicting what appears to be a waterspout, is still and moving at the same time. Lingering between the abstract and the romantic, it makes us question the relationship between what we see and what we know, as eloquently described by the art critic John Berger:
“The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight.”
Enlightenment, 2013 by Mi-Young Choi